Big weekend for loan stars

West Ham United may not be playing until Monday with the small matter of Liverpool away, but the eight players out on loan should provide plenty of Saturday interest.

Three of them will be on Championship duty, while the five other loanees will be involved in League One or FA Cup encounters. whufc.com rounds up who will be in action and where this weekend.

James Tomkins (Derby County)The England Under-19 international travelled to Derby on Thursday to join up with Paul Jewell's side, who are 14th in the 24-team Championship and just four points off a play-off place. Derby go to Burnley, who themselves are in fifth place, with Tomkins looking to build on Tuesday's reserve run-out after a spell out injured and his six first team appearances last season.

Kyel Reid (Blackpool)The pacy left winger celebrated his 21st birthday this week with an assist and a goal for the reserves and will now look to build on that with Blackpool after his Thursday move - his third loan spell away from the Boleyn Ground. The north-west club, sitting in 18th in the Championship, have a long trip to the south-west to take on seventh-placed Plymouth Argyle.

Nigel Quashie (Birmingham City)Midland derbies are usually tasty affairs but the lunchtime showdown between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City promises to be extra special as the two teams currently occupy first and second places in the table. The 30-year-old is into his second month on loan at St Andrews and has proved popular. A knock to his achilles in midweek could yet keep him out of the trip to Molineux though.

Jimmy Walker (Colchester United)The 35-year-old goalkeeper got Thursday's loan activity under way with his five-week switch to Colchester United. Walker could make his debut in the League One fixture at Northampton Town on Saturday, with the Essex club sitting just outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

Junior Stanislas (Southend United)The last of Thursday's loans to be confirmed, the attacking midfielder, who turned 19 this week, has made the short trip to the Essex club for a six-week stay. Southend are tenth in League One but will get a break from that competition when they welcome Luton Town in the FA Cup second round. Stanislas has been given special dispensation to play.

Jordan Spence (Leyton Orient)The England Under-19 defender, still only 18, could make his FA Cup debut for Leyton Orient in the second round trip to Bradford City after his month-long loan move at the start of the week. Spence has already played at the Matchroom Stadium this season, when representing the reserves against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month. Orient are 17th in their division, two points above the drop zone.

Josh Payne (Cheltenham Town)Having just turned 18, midfielder Payne has been out on loan at League One strugglers Cheltenham since September. He began his stay with a goalscoring debut and has already made nine appearances including one in the FA Cup. It is that competition that concerns Cheltenham this weekend with Martin Allen's men contemplating the second-round visit of Morecambe Town.

Bondz N'Gala (MK Dons)After two impressive appearances off the bench in consecutive 3-0 victories for the League One high-fliers, managed by Roberto Di Matteo, the imposing 19-year-old defender gets a weekend off. MK Dons may be going well in the league but they were eliminated in the FA Cup first round and consequently do not have a senior fixture this time around.